An Exchange for the Ages
by Angel With A Deck
Summary: "Then...then why are you still doing this!" Ray demanded. "If you already know you are going to lose then why are you still doing this!" "You misheard me. I've accepted my defeat, but that doesn't mean I've accepted this cycle we are now stuck in." "...Alright, Zarc." Ray sighed, putting down her duel disk but not deactivating it. "What is this really about?"


**Angel: "Valentine, my co writer, did a Arc-V/Voltron parody of the infamous 'We had a bonding moment' scene with my favorite pairing, Pawnshipping. It was short but I loved it. That chapter inspired me to write this. If you know what scene of what cartoon I am parodying, kudos to you, my friend!"**

* * *

 **An Exchange for the Ages**

The final battle was upon them. Ray verse Zarc. Just like it was all those years ago. Leo was worried for his daughter but Declan assured him that if anyone could handle the Demon Duelist, it was her. Ray had returned completely after Riley bravely sacrificed her spirit to complete her's. Ray swore that Riley's as well as everyone else's efforts would not be in vain.

"ZARC!" Ray shouted boldly as she approached the half human, half demon creature.

"Ray." Zarc's voice growled. "So you have returned just as I have. I should have known. Can't stop yourself from playing the 'hero' role, eh?"

"I will defeat you here and now! I activate the Spell, Life Transformation! By discarding my entire hand I can return 4 Continuous Spell Cards from my Graveyard and set them face down." The 4 Natural Energy cards returned to Ray's field.

"Alright!" Crow smiled.

"She got Leo's cards back!" Sylvio added, looking relieved.

"Now Ray can take out Zarc's dragons!" Gong nods.

"Whoa, hold it now, Ray. I activate my Set card, Supreme Nature Shattering Arrow. I can destroy as many face down Spell cards you control as possible and inflict 500 damage for each one!"

"500 for each?!" Aster cried.

"That's 2000 points of direct damage! Ray's going to lose!" Sora shouted.

"Not yet I won't! I activate the effect of Nature Queen - Mozarta that is in my Graveyard! By banishing her I can negate all effect damage I would have taken this turn!"

"That was close." Shay sighed in relief.

"A little too close." Kite added.

"It doesn't matter how many time you send them to the Graveyard! I will always find a way to bring them-!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Zarc interrupted causally, holding up a clawed hand to hush her. "We all know you can, Ray. It's just a matter of time. It always is. We all know what's gonna happen. You'll eventually activate your En Cards and turn my Dragons into Normal monsters, a very **painful** process I might add, and inflict damage to me by sending them to the Graveyard via En Flower's effect. Then what will end up happening is the En Card's energy will split the worlds as well as you and myself into 4, restarting this entire cycle. Our counterparts will probably end up getting close to one another, except for one pair because of some bullshit reason and then we'll probably won't see each other again for about 14 years give or take, depending on how much time it takes for your father to fuck up everything again." Zarc directed a look over at Leo, who glared back with just as much venom. "And then we'll have the exact same battle all over again." Ray falter for a moment, seeing a bit of truth in Zarc's words before snapping herself out of it.

"Your words won't fool me, Zarc! I activate the effect of Nature Queen Lullaby!"

"No! Wait!" Zarc cried, but Ray continued.

"By banishing this card from my Graveyard I can once again return En Flowers, En Birds, En Winds, and En Moon from my Graveyard to my field face down!" Zarc sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, seemingly more annoyed than afraid.

"I activate the Graveyard effect of my Nature Shattering Arrow, by returning it to the Deck I can send 1 Spell card in your Spell or Trap Zone straight to the Graveyard. I send En Flowers back to your Graveyard." Ray felt a smirk come over her face.

"Foolish move, Zarc, because..."

"I know you can get it back, Ray. You're not fooling anyone." Zarc muttered. "I know you can banish Life Transformation to return En Flowers to your hand. Our first duel wasn't **that** long ago." Everyone was a bit startled by how Zarc was acting, even Ray. "See what I mean? I've already accepted that your return will always spell out my defeat, Ray."

"Then...then why are you still doing this?!" Ray demanded. "If you already know you are going to lose then why are you still doing this?!"

"You misheard me. I've accepted my defeat, but that doesn't mean I've accepted this cycle we are now stuck in."

"...Alright, Zarc." Ray sighed, putting down her duel disk but not deactivating it. "What is this really about?"

"A real duel." Zarc stated simply.

"A...a what?" Ray asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You heard me!" Zarc bellowed loudly. "Think about it, Ray! We could settle this thing once and for all! Woman to...uhh..." Zarc looks down at himself, trying to figure out what to call himself.

"Asshole!" Shay shouted out, unhelpfully from where he laid on the ground. Zarc rolls his eyes.

"I'll just go with demon." Zarc turned his full attention back to Ray. "Whoever wins our duel will use the Heavenly Dragons' powers to rewrite the world into their own image without any objections! No useless peanut gallery! No gender confusing children! But more importantly, no En Cards." Ray was taken aback by this.

"No En Cards?" She repeated, sweating a bit at what Zarc was offering.

"What do you say, Ray?" Zarc grinned evilly.

"Don't do it, Ray!" Declan called to her. "It's a trick!"

"Exactly! He's just trying to stop you from winning!" Leo added. Everyone else also continue to shout at Ray not to accept Zarc's offer. Ray brought her duel disk back up to her and opened up her Graveyard where she could see En Flowers. The pink symbols on the card glowed back at her. This one little card contained so much power. Power she knew she couldn't handle. Zarc was right. Everything would just repeat all over again. That wasn't fair to anyone. Not to them...and not to their counterparts. They didn't deserve to go through this tortuous cycle with them. To everyone's shock and disbelief, Ray set her duel disk down.

"Very well, but you will follow 3 conditions!" Ray held up three fingers. Zarc's grin quickly morphed into a somewhat fearful expression.

"Name them!"

"1, no using your Supreme King Dragons in our 'real' duel!" Zarc's golden eyes shot open at that. He couldn't use his dragons?! "But I have no objections to you using the Heavenly Dragons." Ray thought about her second condition very carefully. "2, no using your counterparts against me. This duel will just be between us and only us."

"I wouldn't even if I could. All of them were disappointments." Zarc snorted. "Except for Yuri. That kid I could get behind."

"Of course." Ray muttered under her breath. "And 3, no Integration Summoning. And no demon form either. You come in human form. **Full** human form." Zarc ponder this for a moment.

"Hey! That's 4 things!"

"The last one is a two parter." Zarc lean down from his great height until he was at Ray's eye level. Ray meet the demon's gaze evenly, her arms crossed. Clearly, there was no negotiating with these terms. Zarc rose back up with a annoyed growl but was quickly replaced with a shit eating grin.

"I accept! We shall meet before the rising sun in the ancient stadium where we first did battle!" Zarc announced loudly so that everyone could hear.

"Agreed." Ray nods firmly, before looking up sharply as if she just realized something. Zarc noted Ray's expression.

"Was that the east stadium or the west one?"

"East." Zarc answered.

"East, right." Ray nods again.

"You know where that is?"

"Yes, yes." Ray said, holding her hands up reassuringly. "I'll find it. Don't worry."

"You sure?" Zarc looked down at her sceptically.

"No, no. Don't worry. I remember now." Ray looked away, actively struggling to remember the pathway she had taken to get to Zarc the first time around.

"I could...give you a ride if you-"

"I will find it!" Ray shouted. "I'm not a child!"

"Then I'll see you there!" Zarc turned around to leave.

"In human form." Ray said quickly. Zarc spun around.

"What?"

"In human form." Ray repeated. "I will see you there, in human form."

"Ohhhhh." Zarc blinked a couple of times, remembering the weight of the terms. "I'll be in human form."

"Right."

"Of course. I thought you meant...ha. Never mind." Zarc smirked again. "Human form, got it."

"Right."

"Right."

"Righttt." Ray stretched out the syllables.

"And no En Cards."

"Right." They both stared at each other for a little bit longer. Finally Zarc gave Ray another smile. Ray forced herself to also smile at the demon. If things weren't awkward before, they were certainly awkward now. Zarc turns to leave once more.

"B-before you go!" Zarc turned back around. "The stadium...it was by Abbey road, right?"

"Close, just past that."

"So Charleston street?"

"No. You go past Charleston you went too far." Zarc said, shaking his head. "Look, should I just draw up a map or something for you?"

"I do not need your help!" Ray growled. Zarc threw up his hands in a surrender fashion.

"What the hell do my Standard, Synchro, and Xyz counterparts see in you?"

"The feeling is mutual!"

"Leo, for once in your life, be a father and help your daughter. I got a duel to prepare for." Zarc said before snapping his fingers. Dark black clouds surrounded his form and when they disappeared, he was gone. Everyone could only stare in stun silence as Ray snap off her duel disk and pulled out the En Card from her deck. She threw the four cards at Declan as she walked past, muttering incorrigible words under her breath.

The Lancers were prepared for a lot of things to go down, but nothing like this.

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 **Angel: "If you still don't know what this is parodying but want to find out, just go to Youtube and type in 'an exchange for the ages'. It's a 4 minute clip by 'smellmeister'. I used to watched that show as a little kid. Good memories. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it!"**


End file.
